Canadian Cottage Country Is the Place to Be This Summer

One designer's dreamy retreat will convince you to travel north.

By
Kathleen Renda

Apr 19, 2017

Don Freeman

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When designer Anne Hepfer built her dream getaway right on the water in Ontario's cottage country, she combined luxe minimalism with woodsy touches — plus eye-catching finds from her far-flung travels — to create a year-round vacation haven for family and friends.

Kathleen Renda: Canadians! What is it about their enthusiasm for their lakeside cottages?

Anne Hepfer: This is definitely cottage country. Every Friday night, the highways heading out of Toronto are filled with families making the pilgrimage out of town, kayaks and canoes strapped to the roofs of their cars. Cottage weekends are about escaping the hectic go-go-go of modern life. You leave the city behind and reconnect with your kids, yourself and nature. The pace is much slower. As an American — I moved to Canada about 10 years ago, when I married my husband — I wasn't familiar with the whole phenomenon, but now I love it. There's something very meditative about the crystal-clear water, the soaring white pines and the outcroppings of rugged gray granite.

How did you integrate that setting into the cottage's design?

I wanted a home with a deep relationship to nature. Before we started building, I studied the site, which is in Ontario's Muskoka Lakes region, about a two-hour drive north of Toronto. I took note of where the sun rose and set, the direction of the wind and the way light dappled through the branches. Every room in the house is oriented toward the lake. In summer, there's a seamless feel between indoors and out. The breeze drifts through, the woodsy fragrance of pine scents the air and you can hear the splashes of swimmers outside enjoying the water.

Did the surroundings also influence the scale of the rooms?

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Balancing that feeling of vastness was crucial. The rooms are large. I chose huge, heavy reclaimed ceiling beams and wide-plank pine wallboards and floorboards. The living room has an enormous fireplace of locally quarried granite and a wall of windows stretching 20 feet high. You gaze directly out onto the swaying pines; it's almost like you're in a tree house.

￼There's a rustic simplicity to the interiors.

That was very purposeful. I looked to modern Belgian design for inspiration, seeking an unpretentious, luxurious minimalism. The palette is neutral and monochromatic, so as to not deflect from the beauty outside. Plus, I spend my workdays constantly looking at color and pattern, so this is a refuge from intense visual stimulation. Travel is my passion, so I also tried to add a worldly beat, layering in meaning with a curated collection of mementos from my trips.

Don Freeman

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Like the giraffe photograph in the den?

What's funny is that my husband and I bought that Nick Brandt image years ago, before we'd ever visited Africa. The stillness of the piece intrigued me. A friend asked why I chose it rather than something more cottage-related. While I always aim for a seamless look, it doesn't mean everything has to be themed. That room also contains a hand-carved stool from Zimbabwe, a Japanese hand-chiseled teak coffee table and walls clad in boards sourced from an Ontario barn. There is a mixing of hues and textures, along with unique pieces that have a backstory.

I've heard it can get quite cold up there in the north country. How icy is that lake, and do you really swim in it?

Actually, the water temperature can reach a respectable 78 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer—although if you plunge all the way down, I admit it can be really chilly. But we're raising hearty Canadian children — I have two sets of twins, ages 7 and 11. When we go ice fishing on the lake in winter — we come to the cottage year-round — the kids will often jump right in. We call it the polar ar dip. During summer they're always in the water, diving and paddling and holding logrolling contests.

What other family activities do you enjoy at the cottage?

We try to make as many memories as possible. For example, every Sunday morning, I pull out my crepe maker and crank out sweet and savory crepes. Sometimes I'll carry the fixings for brunch out to the boathouse and prepare it alfresco. We host talent shows, lazy barbecues and fondue parties. On rainy days, we read books en masse. And a trophy goes to the family member who catches the most trout during the season. With relatives and friends visiting almost every weekend and neighbors who are often dropping by — they just pull up to the dock in their boats — it's chaos ... and the most fun you can possibly imagine.

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